Mesothelin is a differentiation antigen present on normal mesothelial cells and overexpressed in several human tumors, including
mesothelioma and ovarian and pancreatic adenocarcinoma.
The mesothelin gene encodes a precursor protein that is processed
to yield the 40-kDa protein, mesothelin, attached to the cell membrane by a glycosylphosphatidyl inositol linkage and a 31-kDa
shed fragment named megakaryocyte-potentiating factor.
The biological function of mesothelin is not known. Mesothelin
is a
promising candidate for tumor-specific therapy,
given its limited expression in normal tissues and high expression in
several
cancers. SS1(dsFv)PE38 is a recombinant anti-mesothelin immunotoxin that is undergoing clinical evaluation in patients with
mesothelin-expressing tumors.
There is evidence that mesothelin is an immunogenic protein and could be exploited as a therapeutic
cancer vaccine. A soluble mesothelin variant has been identified and could be a useful tumor marker for malignant mesotheliomas.
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